the faith discussion

Revolution vs. Rulebook

This entry was also posted to Palimpsest Redux

"There's a lot of Bible-thumping going on these days-- in Judaism and Christianity alike. And it has left the impression that it's some sort of book of rules to follow, tenets to believe in and historical events to set in stone. Where it's actually the story of a revolution-- both of a bunch of people, and of human consciousness. It's a proposition for an open source reality and a set of guidelines for how to break the news to real people who love to believe in idols."

From: Douglas Rushkoff ,
"Change the story, and you change the world"

This is a great quote examining the purpose of the Bible. We often get bogged down in the 'do's and don't's', the 'bible as a rule book' idea...but, As Rushkoff puts it, it is not really about that at all. Sure there are guidelines as to how to live your life, and commands that God provides for us to follow. I don't want to downplay the importance of these things...the bible as a handbook on how to live a wise and holy life...but, it is more about REVOLUTION.... like Rushkoff says, "it's actually the story of a revolution-- both of a bunch of people, and of human consciousness". Well put. As Paul states, we need this revolution of grace and love: " I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die" (Galations 2:21, New Living Translation). This verse floored me the other night, being someone who grew up with Christianity and religion...it isn't enough.
A revolution had to take place...not one of violent bloodshed and genocide, but one of singular Holy blood being spilt on our behalf and the ultimate act of Regicide (the killing of a King...in this case, Christ, The King).
This is not a revolution in the sense we normally think of...it is not the violent overthrow by a Messiah that the Jews at the time we hoping for. No, this Liberator set out to overthrow the totalitarionism of death's dictatorship. Christ's revolution was not a bloody one in terms of historical revolutions, but it was not bloodless.

posted by J.M @ 2:03 PM 0 comments

Coffee Time

People are asking
is there any way to get
a cup of coffee?
- CBC Foreign
Correspondent, Terry
Milewski reporting from
San Juan, Mexico.



Hurricane Hugo has nearly wiped the ass
Of every Juan. People’s homes are fallen down
19 are dead. And there’s no coffee.

© M. Primmer
03/1987

posted by J.M @ 10:17 AM 0 comments

the problem of representing

I was reading last night from a book titled "The Emerging Church" and found some of it hitting very close to what we are discussing...a few quotes from the chapter entitled 'I Like Jesus, but I don't Like Christians':

The author refers to a video interview conducted on the U of Santa Cruz's campus in which the following questions were asked:
"1. What comes to mind when you hear the name Jesus?"
"2. What comes to mind when you hear the word Christian?"

the responses to them were very interesting:

"At the first question, student's faces light up in smiles. 'Jesus was beautiful.' 'I want to be like Jesus.' [...] 'I want to be a follower of Jesus.'" (Kimball, 79).

"But at the second question, their expressions changed dramatically. Eyes looked downward, smiles turned to frowns and even pained expressions. 'Christians have taken the teachings of Jesus and really messed them up.' 'I would want to be a Christian, but I have never met one.' 'Christians are dogmatic and close-minded.'" (79)

The author goes on to say that "we are living in a wonderful time when younger generations are wide open to Jesus, but Christians are often the stumbling block." (80).

Kimball uses a quote from Gandhi (a great follower of Christ's teachings and examples, who ultimately rejected accepting Christ as God and liberator):
"I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ" (qtd. in Kimball, 79).

I will let those words speak for themselves. An outside 'verbal audit'.
J.M.

Source: Kimball, Dan. "The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations." Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2003.

posted by J.M @ 10:43 AM 2 comments